Can't get it started (85 CRX Si)

I'm workin on my friends 85 CRX Si and i can't find the problem. It has
spark. It has fuel to the filter...and lots of pressure. The only thing
that bothers me is that when i turn the key to the on position... the
PGM-FI light comes on and stays on....most i've seen come on and go out
after a bit. Plus when we crank the car trying to start it, the PGM-FI
light flickers. The only things left i can think of is it jumped time, bad
ecu, or falty relay(s).

If you have any ideas, let me know.....thanks

On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 03:50:34 -0500, "Ution8" >
wrote:

>I'm workin on my friends 85 CRX Si and i can't find the problem. It has
>spark. It has fuel to the filter...and lots of pressure. The only thing
>that bothers me is that when i turn the key to the on position... the
>PGM-FI light comes on and stays on....most i've seen come on and go out
>after a bit. Plus when we crank the car trying to start it, the PGM-FI
>light flickers. The only things left i can think of is it jumped time, bad
>ecu, or falty relay(s).
>
>If you have any ideas, let me know.....thanks

The next step would be to determine if your fuel injectors are getting
their pulses from the ECU. An oscilloscope is optimum for this but
most mechanics don't have one handy. They make sets of lights you can
attach to the injectors for diagnosis that are not too expensive. Just
how well you can measure the injector signals with a multimeter
depends on the multimeter.

One diagnostic: after trying to start several times, pull a sparkplug.
Is it wet with gas?

Oh, and one subtle fault it just might be...
Check near the thermostat housing for three wires that are grounded
there. They come from the ECU and if they are either loose or
improperly grounded, you get weird no-start symptoms and the ECU has
temper tantrums.

"Ution8" > wrote in message
lkaboutautos.com...
> I'm workin on my friends 85 CRX Si and i can't find the problem. It has
> spark. It has fuel to the filter...and lots of pressure. The only thing
> that bothers me is that when i turn the key to the on position... the
> PGM-FI light comes on and stays on....most i've seen come on and go out
> after a bit. Plus when we crank the car trying to start it, the PGM-FI
> light flickers. The only things left i can think of is it jumped time, bad
> ecu, or falty relay(s).
>
> If you have any ideas, let me know.....thanks

Hi
I've seen this be caused by a bad O2 sensor, but that was on a totally
different car.
Perhaps see if you can get your car hooked up to an OBD2 connector
(Autozone, etc) to see what's up.
Hope this helps.
Remco

On Fri, 3 Dec 2004 19:26:07 -0500, "remcow" > wrote:

>> I'm workin on my friends 85 CRX Si

>Perhaps see if you can get your car hooked up to an OBD2 connector
>(Autozone, etc) to see what's up.

OBDII didn't come out until 1996!

Do you get a code from the ECU?

"Ution8" > wrote in message
lkaboutautos.com...
> I'm workin on my friends 85 CRX Si and i can't find the problem. It has
> spark. It has fuel to the filter...and lots of pressure. The only thing
> that bothers me is that when i turn the key to the on position... the
> PGM-FI light comes on and stays on....most i've seen come on and go out
> after a bit. Plus when we crank the car trying to start it, the PGM-FI
> light flickers. The only things left i can think of is it jumped time, bad
> ecu, or falty relay(s).
>
> If you have any ideas, let me know.....thanks
>

"Ution8" > wrote in message

> I'm workin on my friends 85 CRX Si and i can't find the problem. It has
> spark. It has fuel to the filter...and lots of pressure. The only thing
> that bothers me is that when i turn the key to the on position... the
> PGM-FI light comes on and stays on....most i've seen come on and go out
> after a bit. Plus when we crank the car trying to start it, the PGM-FI
> light flickers. The only things left i can think of is it jumped time, bad
> ecu, or falty relay(s).

If the fuel injector isn't getting power then you should see
LED code 16. Turn the ignition on and check the red LED
on the ECU and the red wire on the injector resistors for
battery voltage. There should be 12V.